John C. Lechleiter, whom Eli Lilly and Co.’s board voted to replace Sidney Taurel as CEO, is known for getting things done
and yet also for being good at analysis and relating to people under him. Taurel will step down at the end of March but remain
chairman until the end of 2008.
Eli Lilly and Co. will shrink itself with “great intensity” over the next few years, in part by
outsourcing. For other local life sciences firms, that’s a fat pitch for new business. But it’s not clear if non-Lilly firms
can grow fast enough to offset the jobs and wages Indianapolis will lose from Lilly.
Clarian Health officials say the only way they can keep operating their medical centers downtown is to support them with profitable
suburban hospitals. So far, it seems Clarian is on the right track. As Clarian moves forward with a new, $180 million hospital
in Fishers, its two existing suburban hospitals are starting to make money.
WellPoint, Indiana’s largest health insurer, is making more noise than ever about what it’s doing to help improve Hoosiers’
and Americans’ health.
There’s a $2 billion hole in Eli Lilly and Co.’s future. That’s roughly how much pretax profit Lilly derives each year from
its best-seller, Zyprexa, according to calculations by IBJ. And it’s how much black ink will start running off Lilly’s books
once Zyprexa’s U.S. and European patents expire in 2011.
WellPoint Inc. and Angie’s List are both racing to launch doctor-rating services early next year. But Angie’s List is already
sour over Well-Point’s decision to partner with New York-based Zagat Survey LLC for its doctor-rating service, apparently
without talking to Angie’s List.
Fifteen senior executives have left WellPoint Inc. since November 2004, when the giant health insurer formed through Indianapolis-based
Anthem Inc.’s $16.5 billion acquisition of California-based WellPoint Health Networks Inc. The merger made many of them rich,
work at WellPoint was grueling, and personal commitments called. So they moved on.
Spending on health care is rising faster in Indiana than it is across the country. Yet the state’s job and income growth continue
to lag national norms.
Plans abound to bring new health care facilities to Brownsburg, one of Hendricks County’s fast-growing towns. Some familiar
local names, such as OrthoIndy, St. Vincent Health and Clarian Health Partners, all have claims to land in the Brownsburg
area.
When the Department of Justice slapped St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital with a $1.2 million fine last month, it stunned local
medical professionals. But the issue behind St. Vincent’s troubles is no surprise. The diversion of prescriptions drugs from
the medical field into recreational use is a widespread problem in Indiana and the nation.
Bob Brody, CEO of St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers, is spearheading an emerging group of central Indiana health reformers
who want to start a bottom-up process to develop alternative solutions to the state’s–and possibly the nation’s–health care
crisis.
Aggressive expansion plans by Indianapolis’ three biggest hospital systems have pushed Greenfield-based Hancock Regional Hospital
to change up its plans to build an outpost of physician offices in northwest Hancock County, near the borders of Marion and
Hamilton counties. But Hancock Regional isn’t backing down.
BioCrossroads is exploring an unusual new strategy to boost the development of Indiana’s life sciences industry: Team up with
San Diego. Advocates say it’s a novel approach with enormous potential for Indiana.
In this era of hyper-scrutiny of corporate ethics, even messy personal lives can fell the career of a “well-loved and well-respected”
executive. Such appears to be the case with David C. Colby, whom WellPoint Inc. forced to resign as its vice chairman and
chief financial officer on May 30 for violating the company’s code of conduct in a “non-business” way.
Seven Indiana public companies not only own corporate jets, but also let their executives use them for personal trips. Cummins
Inc., Hillenbrand Industries Inc., Zimmer Holdings Inc., Eli Lilly and Co., NiSource Inc., WellPoint Inc. and 1st Source Corp.
all allow some personal use of company jets.
Eli Lilly and Co. stock has returned just 1 percent per year in the nine years since CEO Sidney Taurel took office. Meanwhile,
Taurel has taken home $44 million in pay and been given stock options valued at $114 million more. But most Lilly shareholders
aren’t raising a call for Taurel to hit the trail.
In the last three years, Indianapolis hospitals have seen a substantial run-up in the amount of charity care they give to patients who can’t pay. The cost of care is rising, more people are uninsured, and government officials are scrutinizing not-for-profit hospitals to make sure they give enough charity care to merit their tax-exempt status.
Pfizer Inc.’s new inhaled insulin product, Exubera, has stumbled out of the gate. That would appear to keep the door open
for Eli Lilly and Co., as well as for other companies racing to develop inhaled insulin. But Pfizer’s troubles might cause
doctors and patients to sour on all inhaled insulin products.
A bill moving through the Indiana General Assembly could remove one of the major weapons Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield
has used to preserve its market dominion. Senate Bill 114 would forbid health care providers from granting Anthem–or any
other health insurer–so-called “most favored nation” clauses.
When Dr. Jack Farr II saw his grandfather’s knees become bowed out, then saw his father get a knee replacement, he knew he
was next. So he spent his career trying to develop new techniques to replace–and now even regrow–the cartilage around knees.
His labors are part of an international effort to develop alternatives to joint replacements.
